Chapter 22 chapter 2

Two days after Kaga and Nakano Taeko had dinner together, there seemed to be an extremely interesting report from New York, and Kaga and Ota hurried to the Shakujii Police Station. "It seems that I found a movement coach named John Thomas who taught Mori Yasuko over there, and got a very valuable testimony from that Thomas." In the office of the Criminal Section, Deputy Police Officer Kobayashi said seriously that the importance of the obtained report can also be seen from his expression. "Actually, apart from Yasuko and Takayanagi Akiko, there were two other dance troupe people who went there four years ago."

"There are two more?" Kaga and Ota said in unison. "Yes, but not the dancers. And none other than Takayanagi Shizuko and Oda Yasushiro." "Those two people? What are you going to do?" "It is said that at the beginning I wanted to inspect the studies of Jingzi and Akiko, but in the end not only did the inspection, but also brought them back. According to the arrangement at the time, Jingzi and Akiko should stay for another two months." "What happened?" Ota clapped his hands. "It seems that Thomas said that the reason is unknown."

Kobayashi said that they haven't asked Gao Liujingzi yet, and they want to confirm this matter nearby. "So Takayanagi Shizuko and Oda were only there for a short time?" Kaga said. "Takayanagi Shizuko seems to be like this, and she will be back soon with two dancers." Kobayashi showed a meaningful look, "But Oda is not, that guy stayed in New York for several days before returning to China. But the important thing is yet to come. During this time, Oda often came to Thomas' training ground. It is said that he came at that time A few policemen." "Police?" Ota amplified his voice, "What are you here for?"

"Unfortunately, Thomas doesn't remember about this, but he said that he probably asked something about the two Japanese dancers. Then he called Oda, who was there by chance, to answer the police's questions." "Does that mean he doesn't remember the content of the question?" Ota's expression was indescribably regretful. "Yes, after all, it's been too long. It seems that I can't even remember the fact that the police came. I'm asking them to investigate the content of the problem." "They finally have some information of substance."

Ota's tone was slightly sarcastic, "They did a great job." Kobayashi defended them angrily, "Didn't I say that when Oda went to the United States two years ago and Yasuko went to the United States four years ago, the ballet company there had changed a lot, so they made the current series of investigations? Quite troublesome." "It's an away game in New York." "That's right." Kobayashi said. After leaving the Shakujii Police Station in a hurry, Kaga and the two were going to rush to Yasuko Mori's apartment in Nakamurabashi. Because something happened that had to be investigated immediately, according to the call from the headquarters, the person who lived in the room above Yasuko said Some very incredible clues.

That person is a white-collar worker working in a computer software company. It is said that he just returned from a business trip to Fuji yesterday.The departure date was the day before Yasuko's body was found, so he only learned about it after he came back. "Seeing that the case happened in the downstairs room, I thought it was really scary. I thought of something important while reading the newspaper, so I called the police." The pale young man rubbed his sleepy eyes and said.Because there was some problem with the tax payment, he went to Fuji to solve it.He said with a wry smile, almost day and night.Today he seems to be on a paid vacation, and he is still wearing pajamas after noon, which is enough to explain the problem.

"What did you remember?" Kaga asked standing at the gate. "Well, it was the day before I went on a business trip. It should be two days before the suicide case. I had to take the first tram to leave the next day, so I packed my luggage until midnight. Then I wanted to sleep , took out the quilt and turned off the light, and when I was about to lie down, I heard voices coming from below." "Oh? Surely it's the room downstairs?" Ota said. "It must be true. The apartment here is very dilapidated. The noises from the next room can be heard clearly, but the loudest sound is from downstairs."

The white-collar spoke as if revealing some key secret.Kaga thought about his own room as well. Ota nodded and asked, "What kind of voice is it?" "If you want to ask me what the voice is, I can't tell. It's probably a woman's voice. Maybe it's the woman who committed suicide. Although I can hear it clearly, it means that I can hear someone muttering somewhere. Specifically The content is inaudible." "How long did the talking last?" Kaga asked. "Uh, I didn't remember the time. I was very sleepy at that time, and it lasted about thirty minutes since I heard it. The window of the gate is open, and it should look like someone has come back."

"Someone is back? Did you hear me right?" "It can't be wrong, how can this kind of thing go wrong." In other words, it wasn't a phone call, but someone came to Yasuko's room.Who could it be in the middle of the night? "Has there ever been such a thing before? I mean, someone visited in the middle of the night and heard voices?" Ota asked. "I don't hear voices very much, but I often hear the sound of some things." The white-collar said, "Probably almost no one is there, and there are no people on Sundays. If it is really a ballerina, I am really happy." Wanted to be closer to her, but I never knew there was such a person living in this apartment."

His words showed the general impression of ballerinas, and Kaga had thought so a few weeks ago. After thanking him and leaving the apartment, Ota contacted the search headquarters.Then he accepted Tomii's instructions to spy on nearby residents.The purpose is to investigate whether anyone else has witnessed this mysterious visitor. First, I asked the student who lived next door to Yasuko, but he said he didn't notice this person.Although it was two o'clock in the middle of the night, he didn't sleep.As if playing a video game, no wonder he didn't notice the neighbors at all.

Afterwards, I asked several households in the surrounding area, and no one saw a person like the visitor. This happened a week ago, and it was still at two o'clock in the middle of the night. It is only natural that no testimony was asked. "Who do you think it will be?" Ota said, he took a sip of black coffee, frowned, and quickly added sugar.After asking around in the street, the two of them came to the coffee shop to have a rest.The outside of this store looks like a grand western-style building, but inside it looks like a dilapidated snack bar. "I don't know. The person who will walk into the room in the middle of the night should be someone who is very close to her. But if it is a man, the degree of intimacy must be quite high." "So if it's a man, there should be a special relationship." "yes." Oh, Ota is pouring milk into the cup this time, it seems that the coffee is quite bad, while Kaga is drinking black tea. "The remaining possibility is the person who had to let him into the house, such as who was caught by what." "That's right." Kaga agreed, "If that's the case, this must be the reason for killing Oda." "Well, very likely." In any case, it is unmistakable that this mysterious visitor is closely related to Yasuko's death.On the second day of the visit, Jingzi asked the dance troupe for leave, and committed suicide on the third day. "Although suicide itself has not changed much, maybe our way of thinking needs to change. For example, if you say that there is an accomplice, the mysterious person may be an accomplice." "I think so too," Kaga said. "Having said that, is it possible that this accomplice has stabbed Yasuko again?" There is no doubt that Yasuko died by suicide, as the circumstances clearly prove it.From the large amount of sleeping pills detected in her body, it can be deduced that she took dozens of pills at one time.And the way to obtain sleeping pills has also been identified. "Should I call the headquarters?" Ota looked at his watch and said, "Let them check the taxi company. The tram is gone at two o'clock in the middle of the night. There is a high possibility that this mysterious visitor will take a taxi home. If that’s the case, it should be picked up from Yasuko’s apartment. Just ask the 24-hour taxi company nearby and you’ll know right away.” "Most of those actors live along the road here, so they won't drive too far, but it's impossible to walk. Or did they drive their own car?" "If you drive your own car, the range will be very narrow." Ota went to call the public phone for a few minutes, and when he came back, his expression remained unchanged, as if he hadn't gained anything. "It seems that I have searched everything, but I can't find a taxi from Jingzi's apartment. Then I have to use my own car." "We should look for people who have a driver's license and are free to use their own car." Kaga said that it occurred to him that Weixu did not have a driver's license. "Maybe the Shakujii Police Station has information about that, let's go." Ota urged, Kaga stood up. By the time we arrived at the Shakujii Police Station, the sun had already set.The spying around Yasuko's apartment took a long time. After walking to the criminal class, I saw Xiao Lin running towards the two of them. "I just wanted to contact you. There is a new situation. I told you during the day that the local police officer in New York asked John Thomas for questioning about the Japanese dancer four years ago, right? That case has finally been clarified." "What case is it?" Ota asked. "According to the report over there, it was an attempted murder case." "Attempted murder?" "In a hotel in the suburbs, a Japanese male guest was assassinated." The words of Deputy Police Officer Kobayashi can be roughly summarized as follows: A man has been found bloodied and unconscious in a hotel room.According to the staff, he was staying with a woman. In fact, the names of a man and a woman were also written in the guest registration book, but it was immediately discovered that they were using false names because the man was holding an ID card. Because the man did not regain consciousness, the police went to his apartment the next day, and after asking his neighbors, they learned that he seemed to have a girlfriend.Although no one had seen the girl's face clearly, some of them knew that it was a Japanese actress from the New York Ballet.Then the police rushed to the ballet and met with John Thomas, who directed the Japanese dancers. "'There should be a Japanese in your troupe dating this man' - the police questioned Thomas. But Thomas seemed to be unable to answer the police's questions, because he was usually not interested in the private lives of the dancers. For him The one who answered was Oda Yasunari who happened to come to the training ground at that time. The statement at that time is still kept word by word. He replied like this: "Although they are dating, the relationship is not deep, and the girl has already I'm not here anymore, I returned home last night'." "This case just happened on the day the two of them returned to China?" Kaga bit her lips tightly, this couldn't have happened by accident. "The police also asked the actor's name, and Oten replied that it was 'Yasuko Mori'." Ota banged on the table, "So it's Yasuko?" "But in this way, the police in New York should be suspicious of Yasuko." Kaga said. "Of course." Kobayashi said, "however, this suspicion was immediately cleared up because the man regained consciousness. He testified while lying on the hospital bed: the woman who stayed with him was a woman he met on the road. I don’t know each other. It seems that I also asked him about Japanese actors, but he said that it has nothing to do with her.” "Ok……" Ota had an empty and happy expression on his face, and so did Kaga. "Since he himself said so, the search by the New York police must be based on this testimony. It must have done a lot of investigations, but in the end the prisoner was not found. This kind of case often happens, the victim He didn't die, so it became a mystery." "What is the name of the Japanese victim?" "Hmm... Kazuhiro Aoki. He stayed in the United States as an art student at the time. I don't know what happened after that." Kobayashi looked at the notes and replied, "They are currently investigating. We are also planning to make a list of art students who have studied in New York, so we should be able to find them soon." Speaking of which, not long ago, in order to investigate the people Kazama met in New York, Kaga asked a few foreign students.As he was thinking about it, a flash of light suddenly appeared in his mind. "Ah!" He couldn't help shouting, Ota and Xiao Lin looked at him in surprise. "What's wrong?" Colin asked. "I remembered, Kazuhiro Aoki, absolutely unmistakable, I know that man." "You know? How did you know?" Ota was slightly angry, Kaga looked at him and said, "You should know Ota, that man has already returned to Japan."